South Africa have now lost the ”choker” tag which has haunted them in the World Cup, all rounder Jacques Kallis said on Sunday.
Although they have regularly won lesser tournaments easily South Africa have faltered on the big stage, notably in their one-run loss to Australia in the 1999 World Cup Super Sixes.
”I think that’s been kicked out a long time ago,” Kallis told reporters. ”We’ve been successful the last few years. We’ve won tense games and successfully chased huge totals.”
South Africa defeated world champions Australia 3-2 in an exciting one-day series at home in March, clinching the decider by chasing down a record target of 435 with a record-breaking 438 for nine. They are currently the number two team in the world.
”Definitely we played well against Australia back home to win that series,” said former captain Shaun Pollock. ”They are rated the number one team in the world, so we take a lot of confidence from that.
”This is a big season for us and on our day we can beat anyone. We want to make sure we are ready as we have the opportunity to win the Champions Trophy and the World Cup later.”
South Africa have had their share of ill luck in World Cups, especially in 1992 when the rain rule left them needing an impossible 21 runs off one ball in the semifinals against England when they had to get 22 off 13 balls before the cloud burst.
Then again in 2003, rain and misjudgement of what would be needed to win by the Duckworth-Lewis method meant the hosts were ejected when they tied with Sri Lanka when only a win would have kept them in the tournament.
”To lose by one run in two World Cups and get knocked out is a bit difficult to swallow,” said Pollock, who was captain at the 2003 tournament which was hosted by South Africa.
”We haven’t had much luck. Maybe in the West Indies we’ll have everything go away for a change.
”You don’t want those things to linger longer. It’s a new team, some of these guys weren’t even involved. It’s a different set up, and four years on.”
South Africa, the 1998 winners, begin their Champions Trophy campaign with a match against New Zealand on October 16.
”We have to make sure we start off well in our pool. Playing in India last year was a good experience and gives us a lot of confidence,” Pollock said of the 2-2 draw. – Reuters